I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical procedures and, more particularly, to a medical procedure for performing a vitrectomy on an eye or causing posterior vitreous detachment.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In order to treat certain medical diseases and dysfunctions in the eye, and especially human eyes, it is necessary to perform a vitrectomy on the eye. As is well known, a vitrectomy involves the removal of the vitreous humor from the eye and the replacement of the vitreous humor by a sterile saline solution.
The vitreous humor or vitreous is a semi-solid material (gel) having a jello-like consistency. In order to remove the vitreous from the eye, the vitreous is conventionally mechanically removed from the eye while simultaneously replacing the removed vitreous with a saline solution to prevent collapse of the eye.
One difficulty in performing a vitrectomy is that the vitreous exhibits a relatively strong adhesion to the retina of the eye. Mechanical removal of the vitreous from the retina of the eye can result in scarring, tearing and other damage to the retina. Such retinal damage, of course, is highly undesirable since such damage may compromise the patient's vision following the vitrectomy.